Rioters clashed with police in Ballymena, and masked groups set fire to a recreation center in Larne, where families had been given temporary shelter.

Some 63 police officers have been injured in what has been called a “ week of shame ” in Northern Ireland. Disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the Co Antrim town at the weekend, and continued throughout the week.

Unrest has erupted in the Northern Irish town after the alleged sexual assault of a local girl by two 'Romanian' teenagers

PSNI chief Jon Boutcher said a young girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault that triggered protests has been "further traumatised" and her family is "mortified" by the disorder this week

After racist violence erupted there on Monday, before spreading to other parts of Northern Ireland in four nights of disturbances, many Ballymena homes are also displaying yellow posters with “LOCALS LIVE HERE”.

Rioting which injured 22 officers in Portadown was "entirely unacceptable" and undermined the aims of peaceful protestors to have “legitimate” concerns about illegal immigration highlighted, the local MP has said.

Protests in the small Northern Irish town of Ballymena spiralled into acts of anti-immigrant violence this week after two teenagers who spoke Romanian were charged with sexually assaulting a local girl.

About 50 households in Northern Ireland have received housing assistance since disorder broke out in Ballymena this week, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has said.